Unnamed Naruto Fanfic
by SPARTAN A291
Summary: Currently unnamed, but any suggestions are more than welcome. Follows the Naruto canon picks up a few days before the story actually starts , but from from the perspective of an original character.
1. Prologue

Any feedback is appreciated- either send me a message here on , or to my email (). I'll be checking both for reference, this particular scene takes place a few days before Naruto learns the shadow clone jutsu in the canon story, but I intend to go well into the Shipuudden story, maybe even all the way to when it ends. Also, I'm not going to pull punches, no pun intended. The maturity level of the writing will be up there, along with FMA, Death Note, and other series of the like. You have been warned.  
P.S.- Any suggestions as to what to name the series would also be welcome, just send me a message with the Subject titled "Fanfic".

Prologue

_No. I didn't come here to die._ As soon as that thought entered his head, Nicholas knew that there wasn't really anything he could do to stop them as he lay curled on the ground, bleeding from the scrapes and cuts on his forearms, back and shins. He knew that he wasn't a match for six armed men. He may have been much stronger than most children his age from living on the streets most of his life and working for a weapon smith as an apprentice, but there was still a limit as to what he could do given his size, and no real training. The very thought of his dead master and fellow apprentice brought on a fresh wave of rage, only to be silenced by the pain of a rib cracking from a particularly vicious kick to his unguarded left side.

About half a week ago, he had gone to the shop only to find it in flames, with his fellow apprentice laying on the ground outside, bleeding to death. His master had been knocked unconscious in the shop before it had been set ablaze, and had died in the fire. After asking around, he had heard that six, well armed men had robbed the place, setting it on fire in the process, and had cut down the young man who had tried to stop them. Nicholas had gotten their descriptions, and had taken it upon himself to hunt down the thieves and avenge his master and friend. Looking back on it now, Nicholas realized that he really had no plan, just as one of the attacker's boots began a downward stomp towards his head.

7 ½ years later

Nicholas woke with a start, covered in sweat despite the cool October night. While it never actually got cold here, fall and winter nights did tend to get a bit chilly, which made it all that much more unusual that he was sweating. Slowly sitting up, he pulled his brown hair, which went a little over half a foot past shoulder length, out of his face. Then, rubbing the sleep from his brown eyes, looked out the window to his left, and saw that it was still night, or at least very early morning. Rolling over, he looked at the clock at the nightstand next to his bed, and read it by the starlight.

_3:52. Way too early. _

While he was normally up before the sun rose, he usually didn't wake for at least another two hours. Rolling onto his back again, Nicholas closed his eyes. It happened every year, always around early spring, since that was when it had happened about seven years ago. Every fall, he would start getting nightmares that always brought him back to that moment. Even now, the scars covering his fairly well muscled back, shins, and arms itched at the memory. Truth be told, he should have died that day. If his kekkei genkai hadn't awakened, he would have.

He had blacked out, just as that boot had been about to crush his head against the street. When he came to his senses a few minutes later, he had been on his feet, surrounded by the men beating him either dead or dying in the street around him, killed with their own weapons. There was another person there, too- a bystander who had been just passing by, and had stopped to help at just the wrong moment. Nicholas never forgot the man's face, and had been shocked by his mistake. Despite his injuries, he had fled,terrified that he would accidently kill another innocent person. After a few days, he had vowed to master this new ability so that he would never again lose something he valued in life, and so that he would never again kill another innocent.

Nicholas turned to look at his clock again. 3:59. He knew that it was no use trying to fall back asleep, especially with those particular memories so fresh in his mind. Nicholas got up, stretched a little past his full height of 6' 3", got dressed in his typical white uwagi with sky blue sleeves, hakama of the same blue color as the sleeves, and tabi socks. Hethen went downstairs to get breakfast after picking up his katana, Zanryu, and its black scabbard fromthe stand by his bed. After eating, he went to the front door, put on his straw sandals, and left the house. Considering how far out of town he lived, it would take anywhere between half an hour to forty five minutes to reach town without using flash step, and that would give him just enough time to climb the stairs to the top of the cliffs to watch the sunrise.

As he walked, he reflected back on his past,and realized that he was quite well off, especially considering how his life had gone up to that incident years ago. Born in a small town on a trade route between Suna and Konoha, he had been lucky to have survived his first few years. His parents had been poor foreigners who had worked as rice farmers in the town, and had died in one of the plagues that periodically swept through the region every few decades when he was only four. He had been left to fend for himself, and grew up on the streets, surviving by doing odd jobs, begging, and stealing whatever he needed but couldn't get through other means.

Smiling at the memory, Nicholas realized now how much of a troublemaker he had been. After years of living as such, he had eventually arrived in another small, out of the way town, one very similar to where he'd been born, if somewhat larger. Upon arrival, his first act had been to attempt to pickpocket an elderly man who had just left a nearby food stand. Before he had even managed to get his hand into the man's coat pocket, an incredibly strong hand had grabbed his wrist.

"You're a sight for sore eyes," The man had said, looking down at Nicholas as he had frantically struggled against the man's grip. "You're filthy, and I'm willing to bet that you haven't eaten in a while, either."

Too scared at this point to refuse, Nicholas had accepted the man's offer, and had struck a deal. Nicholas would work at the shop the man owned, and would in turn get room and board. After three years, however, the events Nicholas had dreamed of earlier had come to pass, and that life had ended.

Reaching the stairs at the base of the cliffs, Nicholas began the long uphill climb.

After losing control and activating his kekkei genkai, Nicholas had sought out help, learning the shinobi arts wherever he could, under a number of different senseis. After five years of nothing but intense training at a rate that would have killed most people, Nicholas had emerged as a finely tuned instrument of destruction, much like Zanryu, the katana he had made with his own bare hands towards the end of his training. During that five year period, he had also done everything he could to learn about the ability that had saved his life. Despite mastering almost every aspect of his kekkei genkai, he still never found mention of it in any legends, myths, or historical texts, and after years of looking, had given up entirely and simply dubbed it the "shinigan", or Death Eye. Almost immediately after finishing his five years of training, he had begun taking contracts from anyone with enough money to pay. While he had made sure to only take jobs that fit his very strong sense of personal honor, he had produced exceptional results with every job, and after six months had garnered a reputation the envy of many who had spent years doing similar work. After a year, he had attracted the attention of every shinobi organization worth their salt, and had been approached by Konoha's agents looking to hire him for long term employment.

Reaching the top of the cliffs, Nicholas used a small flash step to propel himself atop one of the small, circularbuildings sitting above the cliffs, and sat down facing the direction that the sun would rise.

Of course, Nicholas had been reluctant to accept Konoha's offer- it would mean tying himself down, giving up much of the very freedom he so highly valued as a private contractor. At least, that's how he had felt at first. A week after Konoha had made their offer, Nicholas had been approached by yet another group, one that anyone in Nicholas's line of work had at least heard whispers of. Arriving home one night, only a short walk outside of the town he used to live in, he saw two people waiting for him outside the front of his house. The instant he saw the black cloaks with the distinctive red cloud pattern, he knew which group they were working for. Like with Konoha, they had wanted Nicholas to join them- well aware of their reputation, however, and knowing what their response would likely be if he turned them down, Nicholas had chosen to act first.

As the sun started to rise, Nicholas remembered that encounter very clearly. Activating the shinigan, he had quickly made eye contact with the man with the strange eyes, and had used one of its more advanced abilities to stun him. Nicholas then executed the fastest flash step he could muster, drawing Zanryu while he was still moving, all in the space of less than half a second. With the flash step placing him behind the man with the large scythe, Nicholas turned, used Zanryu to fling the man's weapon away from him, then proceeded to make several deep cuts as fast as he could. After making the eighth cut, he had used another flash step to flee before the deadman's partner could recover. As he had fled, Nicholas had realized that he had only escaped the encounter unscathed because he had caught them off guard with the shinigan, something he had worked very hard to keep a secret. He knew he wouldn't get lucky again, and if the rumors about the Akatsuki were true, he would most likely be found by them within the next few months, and would have to fight a far worse pair than those two, and without the surprise of the shinigan. In the end, Nicholas had accepted Konoha's offer, realizing that it had been the only way to escape the Akatsuki's reach.

The sun was well into the sky now. The town had come to life, with shops now just starting to open. Looking downwards to his right, Nicholas saw the instructors arriving at Konoha's Academy, setting up for classes that would soon start. Slowly standing up, Nicholas began his downhill climb, ready to start a new day.


	2. Chapter 1

Any feedback is appreciated- either send me a message here on , or to my email (). I'll be checking both for reference, this particular scene takes place a few days before Naruto learns the shadow clone jutsu in the canon story, but I intend to go well into the Shipuudden story, maybe even all the way to when it ends. Also, I'm not going to pull punches, no pun intended. The maturity level of the writing will be up there, along with FMA, Death Note, and other series of the like. You have been warned.  
P.S.- Any suggestions as to what to name the series would also be welcome, just send me a message with the Subject titled "Fanfic".

Chapter One

3 Days After Prologue, October 15 AK (After Kyuubi)

While the other shinobi raced ahead after checking back in at the main gate, Nicholas began walking towards the large, domed building painted red and emblazoned with the Land of Fire's insignia to make his report; although he was employed by Konoha, he still wasn't a village shinobi, and as such had to turn in his mission report separately. Nicholas sighed- while he was extremely grateful to the Third Hokage for hiring him and allowing him to live in Konoha despite being an outsider, he knew that Sarutobi didn't call all of the shots. Far from it, in fact. Sarutobi had initially distrusted him (Nicholas understood perfectly; you didn't live long as a shinobi if you blindly trust someone the instant you met them, and Sarutobi had lived a long time), thinking that he was just another mercenary out for the money. They had gradually grown to respect each other, however, and after Nicholas had prevented an ambush that would had wiped out the ANBU team he was working with on his fifth mission for Konoha, Nicholas had earned the Third's trust- Sarutobi knew perfectly well that Nicholas could have let the ANBU squad die, and have outrun the ambush and completed the mission alone.

The Hokage was just one man, however, and the vast majority of Konoha's politicians, civil servants and fellow shinobi still distrusted him, if only because he hadn't grown up in Konoha- which explained how he got stuck with the particular mission he just returned from. Still, it wasn't all bad, Nicholas thought as he walked through the wood paneled hallway, the door to the Hokage's office coming into view.

Leaning against the right side of the doorframe to the office was a man of average build and shocking white hair, wearing what would be a standard Konoha combat uniform if not for the distinctive fingerless gloves with the Konoha insignia etched on a metal plate on the back of the gloves- which were normally exclusive to the ANBU operatives. Gently knocking the back of his knuckles against the wall to make his presence known, Nicholas slowly walked down the hallway to the door, stopped, and leaned with his back against the wall on the left side of the door. After a few seconds the man looked up from the small book he had been reading and slowly turned his head to look at Nicholas, revealing a face covered by a mask up to the bridge of his nose, and a headband doubling as an eye patch for his left eye.

"Finished already? I thought you'd been sent on an escort mission to protect a caravan traveling from our country to the Land of Wind. That should have taken at least a week if you were expecting trouble." The man said, turning a page in his book.

"They clients were apparently just paranoid. Nothing happened, so it just turned out to be three days of babysitting a slow moving target." Nicholas said, staring at the ceiling. "We didn't even hit any bandits on the way, much less an organized attack. Zanryu never left his scabbard."

Kakashi Hatake was one of the few friends Nicholas had in Konoha. Unlike most of the other shinobi, Kakashi hadn't had any particular dislike for him- in fact, Kakashi had been completely indifferent, with absolutely no opinion at all. After being paired together for a handful of missions, however, they had begun to talk, and after a few months they had become something close to friends. As it was, Kakashi was one of the only seven people in Konoha who knew about Nicholas's shinigan- Nicholas often had to use it to keep up with Kakashi's sharingan during their rare sparring matches. After being forced to use it the first time, Nicholas had asked Kakashi to keep the shinigan a secret, and true to his word, had apparently not told anyone else about it after Nicholas explained that the Third Hokage already knew, along with the ANBU team Nicholas had saved with the ability. The only other person who knew was Nicholas's girlfriend, Naomi Saito, a Konoha chuunin. Realizing that Kakashi was talking to him, Nicholas snapped back to reality.

"Sorry, could you say again? I spaced out for a second there." Nicholas said, readjusting himself so that his shoulders wouldn't feel stiff after leaning against the wall.

"That trade route should've gone past your hometown. Bring back any memories?" Kakashi asked looking over at him out of the corner of his right eye, the book he had been reading now closed in his hand.

"No. Someone must've had fun with this assignment, though. It's fairly common knowledge among the higher ups that I grew up out there, and that I didn't exactly have a pleasant childhood." Nicholas said, with a little too much venom in his reply. Kakashi blinked.

"Sorry about that. It wasn't fun going back, especially since I really had nothing to do other than think on this job," Nicholas said, clenching the hand Kakashi couldn't see. "You didn't deserve that." Nevertheless, Kakashi's observations had been right on the money. And truth be told, Nicholas knew that he shouldn't have cared considering how much he was getting paid, but he didn't like the idea of someone screwing with him just for entertainment. Nicholas sighed.

"Enough about that. I heard an interesting rumor on the way here that you'll be teaching at the Academy. How'd they manage to rope you into doing that?"

"Not far from the truth, but no." Kakashi opened his book and began reading again. "I'm supposed to start training a squad of genin in two or three days, after this year's Academy classes end. A good number Jonin do, and as you've only been here for a year and a half, it's understandable that you didn't know. And before you ask, no, I don't know who will be in the squad, and I won't know until tomorrow or the day after." Kakashi said, cutting Nicholas off before he could ask any more questions. Kakashi cocked his head to the right so that he could hear what was happening in the office better. "Either way, it sounds like they're finishing up in there. I'm just here to meet with someone, so I'm guessing that you're next in line."

"You'd be right." Nicholas said, backing away from the door as it opened. "I shouldn't be getting another job for a few weeks, though, so I should be able to stick around for a bit. By the way, do me a favor and don't tell Guy I'm back in town." Nicholas quickly slipped into the office after the shinobi who had just finished their meeting had filed out of the room before the door could fully close and before Kakashi had a chance to reply.

After he gave his report, Nicholas left the giant building, turned north, and began walking home. Even though it was only late afternoon and several hours of daylight left, there was no reason to stay in town. All of the people the Nicholas considered friends were either out of town on missions or like Kakashi- not the kind of people Nicholas could see just spending time with their friends unless they had happened to be heading in the same direction or to the same destination. That only left Anko, and Nicholas _wasn't_ in the mood to put up with her usual antics. As he began walking past the Academy, Nicholas stopped. There was someone in town, he realized- someone who he was ashamed to have overlooked, even if for only a few seconds.

As he walked to the apartment door, he already began to worry- the smell coming from the room reeked of half eaten food and week old garbage. Hesitating at first, Nicholas knocked on the door.

"Yeah, who is it?" A woman's voice called from the inside of the apartment.

"It's me, I just got back. Thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing." Nicholas called back.

"Oh! Hold on a sec, Nick, I'll be right there!" Immediately following those words was a muffled thump, most likely Naomi hitting the floor as she rolled off of her bed and then rapid footsteps approaching the door, before hearing something heavy slam into the door and a distinctive "Dammit". After working with the locks for a few seconds, Naomi opened the door. Her long black hair was a mess, and wearing a somewhat loose grey T shirt and slacks, Naomi had apparently just stumbled out of bed- and had, as Nicholas had thought, hit the floor doing so. A large welt was beginning to form under her short bangs where her forehead had smacked against the floor.

"Come on in. You're probably exhausted after going all the way to Suna and back and- wait, why are you back so early? Never mind, you'll probably explain everything." Naomi said, pulling the door all the way open and walking back into the apartment. Nicholas and Naomi had begun dating almost a year ago now, and only two inches shorter than him, he did have to admit that they did look like a couple when they were in public. Considering that their relationship was the first normal part of life Nicholas was experiencing, it was actually quite ironic that they had first met under what could hardly have been considered normal circumstances.

When they had first met, Naomi's squad had been pursuing a Konoha missing-nin that had dropped off the radar years back. Since he had only been a chuunin when he had gone missing, Konoha's higher ups didn't think twice about sending a squad in training when he had shown up again in a small town about 30 miles outside of Konoha. Naomi's team had been dispatched to track him down and, if capture was impossible, kill him. The initial hunt had been simple enough, but after tracking him into the forest near the town, they had been ambushed by what had apparently been a band of missing-nin from several villages that their target had joined when he had been in hiding. The Jonin leading the team realized that they were outmatched, and had used a summoning jutsu to obtain one of Konoha's messenger birds. After sending the message off, Naomi's team had spent the next forty five minutes evading the missing-nin until Nicholas had been sent as backup. Impressed by his skill despite being the same age as her, Naomi asked her sensei if she could possibly watch Nicholas during his training sessions, if only to learn his methods.

After consulting with the Third, who was supportive of the idea, Naomi started sitting in on what had been solo training sessions deep in the woods by Nicholas's current house. After a while he began showing her how the techniques worked, and eventually how to actually do them. After a while, things had moved on to what they were now.

Stepping into Naomi's apartment, Nicholas truly became worried - the stench was even stronger than before, if at all possible. While Naomi wasn't exactly….tidy when it came to her personal life, she normally would have never let her apartment get to this state. And yet when Nicholas looked around, he didn't see anything out of place apart from Naomi's usual mess of clothes and other personal possessions haphazardly placed throughout her apartment. As she went into her bathroom to get the first aid kit and start treating her forehead, Nicholas began looking for the source of the smell.

"Uh, Naomi? When was the last time you took out the garbage?" Nicholas asked, wearily walking further into the apartment after closing the door behind him.

"I don't know, two, maybe three days ago?" Naomi said from the bathroom.

_Definitely not good, and DEFINITELY more than two or three days ago._ Nicholas thought as he followed the smell. To his dismay, it was getting stronger as he got closer to her kitchen.

"Have you been eating alright? I mean actual food, not prepackaged meals, Naomi." Nicholas called, his hand on the doorknob to the apartment's kitchen, steeling himself for what he imagined he would find on the other side.

"Of course I have!" Naomi called back, indignant.

Nicholas decided that it was either now or never. He turned the knob, yanked open the door, and was almost knocked out by the horrendous smell that came out of the small room. It was worse than he could have possibly imagined.


	3. Chapter 2

Any feedback is appreciated- either send me a message here on , or to my email (). I'll be checking both for reference, this particular scene takes place a few days before Naruto learns the shadow clone jutsu in the canon story, but I intend to go well into the Shipuudden story, maybe even all the way to when it ends. Also, I'm not going to pull punches, no pun intended. The maturity level of the writing will be up there, along with FMA, Death Note, and other series of the like. You have been warned.  
P.S.- Any suggestions as to what to name the series would also be welcome, just send me a message with the Subject titled "Fanfic".

Chapter 2

As he flung open the door to Naomi's small kitchen, a putrid stench came rolling out. The very intensity of the smell caused Nicholas's training to automatically kick in; without consciously thinking about it, Nicholas jumped back from the door, holding his breath and bringing his left arm up to cover his mouth and nose with the sleeve - the way he would normally react to counter a gas grenade in a closed area while still leaving his sword arm free to draw. Remembering where he was, Nicholas stopped- he didn't lower his sleeve, however, and cautiously went to the doorway of the darkened kitchen. He stopped at the doorway, his right eyelid twitching from the fumes.

If Nicholas ever had to describe hell, this would come fairly close. Her stove was a mess, covered in what remained of a failed attempt to cook something Nicholas could no longer identify- her sink was clogged with what appeared to be putrid soup broth, with several packages from prepackaged meals swimming in the mess. Nicholas wasn't sure that he wanted to look inside the small refrigerator underneath the kitchen counter. Hearing the noise Nicholas had made by reflexively jumping back, Naomi rushed over from the bathroom to see what was wrong, the gauze over her welt comically drooping, only held there by half a strip of medical tape. Seeing Nicholas surveying her kitchen with his sleeve covering his nose, Naomi knew she'd been found out.

"Oh." She said, knowing that she couldn't say much else after blatantly lying to Nicholas about her eating habits while he had been gone.

Nicholas backed away from the kitchen door and went to open the windows. As he did, he inwardly sighed. He should've known this would happen. While Naomi was very good at her job and had been renowned during her Academy days for thriving during survival exercises, she lacked any skill whatsoever when it came to feeding herself in a domestic environment. As it was, Nicholas had been dropping off meals he had already cooked so that she could refrigerate them for when he was away – unfortunately, he had forgotten to make any meals for her before he had left on his last mission, and, rather than eating out she had apparently tried to make her own meals. Based on what was left on the stove, that attempt had failed – spectacularly – and she had instead resorted to buying meals that she only had to heat up. Busy trying to feed herself, Naomi had also apparently forgotten to take out the trash, which was overflowing from the small bin she had in the corner of the kitchen. Going back to the kitchen, Nicholas began doing what he could to clean up. Naomi walked in and began helping him, if somewhat abashed.

"I was going to clean up," Naomi said, emptying the trash into a larger bag so she could properly dispose of it later. "But I wasn't expecting you to be back for at least another three or four days."

"Not quite the issue here." Nicholas said, pulling his sleeve back to avoid getting it dirty as he pulled out the plastic wrapping clogging her sink. "I just can't quite understand it. From what I've heard, your Academy teachers could have dropped you out in a mountain range completely devoid of life and you would still find a way to find food and shelter. When it comes to living normal life, though, you fall apart."

"It's not my fault. During survival training, I just had to know what was poisonous and what wasn't, and how to preserve anything I killed for food. I never had to be picky about how my food was prepared." Naomi retorted, but with no real bite behind it as she carried the bulging garbage bag out of the kitchen.

Nicholas sighed and hung his head in exasperation. Finishing with the sink, he moved onto the stove.

Leaving Naomi's apartment, Nicholas started to head home. The sun had set hours ago, and the night was pitch black now that he was out of the town. Looking around first to make sure there was no one nearby, Nicholas stopped and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his perfectly normal, black pupils had been replaced by thin, slit shaped reptilian ones that glowed a bright whitish blue- the rest of his eyes remained unchanged, his sclera still white and his irises retaining their normal brown color.

As he opened his eyes, he saw the world in a completely different way than he had a moment ago. Despite the lack of any significant light source apart from the stars, Nicholas could see even better now than he had been able to just hours ago in broad daylight. Colors were slightly brighter and contrasted much more sharply than usual, and time seemed to slow, although Nicholas knew that this was just the shinigan increasing his perception and speed of thought. When he had first begun training with the shinigan, the increased speed of thought had annoyed him to no end since his body had been initially unable to keep up with what he had asked it to do, always trailing behind his thoughts by what had seemed like several seconds to him. While his teachers had all said that he had shown a natural talent for movement in flash step, the only reason he was faster than any other shinobi in Konoha was because he had trained with flash step until his body could keep up with his mind. Just the same, he never got used to it, no matter how many times he used it.

Looking around again to make sure no one had seen him activate it, Nicholas continued heading home. While living well outside of town did have benefits, it also made traveling home without a light source dangerous. Without any light, one could easily sprain or break an ankle on the many tree roots and other detritus that covered the dirt path, and Nicholas would not take on any jobs, even with an injury that small – he had seen people killed going into fights with similar injuries, simply because they were a fraction of a second slower than usual. Arriving to his destination – a solitary, two story house of decent size with an open hardwood porch – Nicholas went to the front door, deactivated the shinigan with a thought, and went inside. After preparing himself for bed, he settled in for what he knew would be another stressful, sleep deprived night.

October 17, 12 AK

9:00 in the morning

Nicholas had to admit, he was looking forward to watching the training session Kakashi was holding to determine whether or not he would train this year's potential genin assigned to him. Early yesterday morning, Nicholas had run into Kakashi on his way into town, just outside of the Academy. Deciding that he really didn't have anything important to do, Nicholas had begun talking to Kakashi, who was going to meet with his potential trainees. Eventually, Nicholas had ended up walking with him and stopping a few feet outside of a classroom door. Before Kakashi turned to head into the classroom, Nicholas noticed that the sliding door was already open about four inches, and looking up, noticed the eraser. Pointing it out, Kakashi had simply replied "It'll be that much easier to trick them if they think they can trick me". Deliberately opening the door and letting the eraser hit him, Nicholas had left before they did, and after watching the introductions from the roof of a nearby building, Nicholas had flash stepped to Kakashi's side after the three kids had left. Commenting on the fact that Kakashi seemed to be having fun screwing with the new rookies, he had offered to let Nicholas watch the next day's exercise from a distance.

After positioning himself atop a particularly tall tree almost a mile and a half away, Nicholas realized that Kakashi had never told him what the objective of the exercise was. Looking down towards the training grounds, Nicholas saw three small figures standing in a clearing near the memorial stone. Activating the shinigan to get a better look, Nicholas recognized the three as the kids from yesterday. One boy, dressed in a nauseatingly bright orange with a green backpack, had sat down and fallen asleep. The other two, a boy with a blue shirt and tan shorts and a girl wearing red clothes Nicholas hadn't quite seen before yesterday were still standing, looking around. Nicholas chuckled to himself. Kakashi had doubtlessly told them to be there first thing in the morning, and had deliberately done it to wear them down. After another hour the girl sat down as well, but unlike the boy in the orange clothes, didn't fall asleep. The last one remained standing.

A few minutes later Kakashi himself finally arrived, and while Nicholas couldn't hear them at this distance, the two who had been sitting down shot up and pointed at him accusingly. After exchanging a few words, Kakashi moved over the three wooden posts near the group, pulled out a clock, and set it on the center post. After starting what seemed to be a timer going, Kakashi pulled out two small, round objects from his front vest pocket, and letting him dangle from the attached strings, and showed them to the group. After talking for several seconds, something he said drew a reaction from the kids – one of dismay. A second later, however, something apparently occurred to the girl, and she held out two fingers, obviously asking about the objects Kakashi had shown them earlier. The girl then backed up a step and held her arms to the side, alarmed at whatever Kakashi had said in reply. The boy in orange put his hands behind his head, and said something after laughing. After a second, though, the amused expression disappeared, and to Nicholas's amusement, the boy actually pulled out a kunai and attempted to charge Kakashi with it. Of course, as Nicholas expected, Kakashi didn't even let the kid come close – before the kid had taken more than eight steps, Kakashi was behind him, the kid's kunai now pointed towards the back of his own head. The other two stepped back uncertainly – Nicholas wasn't surprised. He had reacted the same way the time his first sensei had moved that fast. After releasing the boy and saying a few words to the group, they three trainees separated into the bush. Grinning, Nicholas was glad he came to watch- he was going to enjoy this.


	4. Chapter 3

Any feedback is appreciated- either send me a message here on , or to my email (). I'll be checking both for reference, this particular scene takes place a few days before Naruto learns the shadow clone jutsu in the canon story, but I intend to go well into the Shipuudden story, maybe even all the way to when it ends. Also, I'm not going to pull punches, no pun intended. The maturity level of the writing will be up there, along with FMA, Death Note, and other series of the like. You have been warned.  
P.S.- Any suggestions as to what to name the series would also be welcome, just send me a message with the Subject titled "Fanfic".

Chapter Three

October 16, 12 AK

11:15 in the morning

After watching the orange one's attempt, Nicholas began to understand the objective Kakashi had given. The trainee – Naruto Uzumaki, Nicholas believed his name was – had made a spirited attempt, Nicholas would give him that much, and while he may have been an idiot, Nicholas realized that he had at least some potential. The kid had managed to use the shadow clone jutsu, something that was all but unheard of for a beginner. A jonin level technique, it had taken Nicholas days to manage the jutsu, and it had been one of the last techniques he had learned. Not that it really mattered. Kakashi had managed to turn the move back on Naruto with a substitution jutsu, deliberately letting himself get caught by one of the clones and replacing himself with yet another clone, just as Naruto had closed in with a right hook to the face. After that, it had degenerated into a complete and embarrassing failure for the kid. It wasn't until the kid had gone for the object Kakashi had left behind – bait, obviously – that Nicholas had realized that the objective wasn't to defeat Kakashi – it was to steal whatever it was he had tied to his vest. As the kid was pulled upwards by the trap, Nicholas almost laughed aloud. No, this kid was hopeless unless he learned a lot of things very quickly.

As Naruto swung from the snare, Kakashi walked out of the woods. Frowning, Nicholas watched as Kakashi began lecturing the one hanging from the tree. That wasn't like Kakashi – even against rookies, he would leave himself that vulnerable. As that thought passed through his head, several shuriken and kunai buzzed from the forest behind Kakashi, and hit him with enough force to push him sideways several feet. An instant later, however, "Kakashi" was replaced by a log in a puff of white smoke, with the weapons that were meant for him buried inches deep in the wood.

_Figures. If Kakashi let down his guard that easily I would have won a lot more of those sparring matches._

Seconds later, Nicholas heard a scream from the woods several meters north of where the log had replaced Kakashi.

_Two down, one to go. That just leaves the Uchiha._

Looking around the training area, Nicholas spotted him about twenty meters south west of where the scream had come from. Kakashi was already there, and the two were going at it with taijutsu, and Nicholas was impressed. The Uchiha kid was actually pushing Kakashi back – while the jonin was taking it easy on him, it was still damned impressive, and as Nicholas watched, he had to wonder if someone had taught him that in the Academy, or if he had learned it on his own. He was doing pretty well, until he stopped to use a jutsu. Nicholas's grin got slightly larger; he had learned a long time ago that ninjutsu did not work on Kakashi in a one on one fight unless you did something to draw his attention away from you. As soon as the Uchiha had used the fire style jutsu, Nicholas knew it had been over, and had used a flash step to get himself down to the ground. There was really no point to sticking around, since Nicholas already knew how that particular fight would end. Readjusting Zanryu so that it wouldn't fall, Nicholas began walking home – he hadn't visited Naomi yet today, and he would rather cook her meals himself than deal with a mess the likes of which he had seen yesterday.

Short time skip – Roughly Seven Months

June 22, 12 AK

It was spring now – Nicholas's favorite season. Not too hot, and while it never really got cold here, it wasn't chilly at night anymore. As for fall, well, that had its own problems; at least he was getting a full night's sleep, something he had never taken for granted since his childhood. Thankfully, Naomi had learned to cook at least basic meals over the last few months, a skill that she hadn't properly learned before moving out of her parents' house the instant she had made chuunin and been able to afford the apartment. As far as Nicholas's work went, he had begun getting very well paying jobs after his brief vacation a few months ago – a desperately needed respite, since his nightly trips back in time had been eating away at his stamina for weeks before that.

Walking up the stairs to the top of the Hokage cliffs for his daily ritual of watching the sunrise, Nicholas mouth twitched upwards, forming a smile for a brief second. Contrary to what Nicholas had expected after watching the debacle by the memorial stone a few months ago, Kakashi had accepted those three as his genin. Just when he had thought he finally had a read on the man, Kakashi had surprised him yet again. Although Nicholas himself had gotten back from a mission only yesterday, though, he had been hearing very interesting rumors over the past month, both inside and out of Konoha. Most interesting of all were the whispers of the Chuunin Exams being held soon – Naomi herself had passed the one that had been held prior to his arrival in Konoha, and the one afterward had been held in another village, all but guaranteeing that Nicholas wouldn't have been able to watch. The rumors about this one, however, said that they would be held here, in Konoha. Just in case the rumors _were_ true, Nicholas had put in a request for another brief vacation, or at least to be given assignments that would only take a day or two at the most as soon as he had gotten back the day before. Hopefully, he would be getting an answer later today.

If the _other_ rumors he had heard since getting back were also true, however, Nicholas wondered if Kakashi would nominate his genin for the Exams. No, if even half of what he had heard from Naomi about the Exams hadn't been exaggeration, even Kakashi wouldn't be _that_ crazy.

June 26, 12 AK

"You're insane."

"Possibly, but I think they'll be up to it. If not, then there's always next year."

Nicholas shook his head as he and Kakashi walked down the dirt path to where the jonin had told his students to wait almost an hour earlier. Kakashi, as usual, was reading out of the book he habitually carried. Nicholas simply had his arms crossed and hidden in his sleeves, enjoying the sunlight as they walked.

"Maybe, but there won't be a next year if they're dead. Yes, I've heard the rumors about the mission your team took on in the Land of Waves, and while that was impressive, it will be child's play compared to this. Naomi's told me about what all the others have been like – I'm surprised that they don't have as many fatalities as they do."

"You sound just like Iruka. As it is, it's up to them at this point. All I can do is put their names forward, they make the actual choice of whether or not they actually take it. And besides, you and I had been going on missions worse than that by the time we were their age." Kakashi said, turning a page in his book. Nicholas just stared – reading with only one eye was as good as wearing a blindfold, and Nicholas always half expected Kakashi to end up walking into a post or some similar object every time he opened that book when he was walking.

"All right, I get the message. For the record, though, you were born during a war and had a shinobi as a father, and I had been an orphan on the streets ever since I was four whose parents were rice farmers. Also, no, I was still in training then. I really don't think that using us as comparisons for what those kids should be is a good idea, and I fully expect this to backfire on you. That being said, good luck – you'll need it."

With those parting words, Nicholas used a quick flash step to propel himself off of the dirt path; the bridge where Kakashi's team was waiting had been in view, and while they hadn't seen him yet since they were busy bickering, Nicholas didn't want to push it. Kakashi already had his hands full with that group, and any distractions would be extremely unwelcome at this point, especially if they went with Kakashi's recommendation to take the Exams.

July 1, 12 AK

3:00 in the afternoon

As much as he liked Naomi, he still had trouble understanding her much of the time. A perfect example of this was her renowned knack for surviving the wilderness with next to nothing but only rudimentary cooking skill which had been learned with great difficulty. Another was her tastes in friends. Just as he was he was leaving her apartment after dropping off some food, Naomi called for him to wait.

"Sorry, I almost forgot – Anko said she was looking for you."

The hair on the back of Nicholas's back went up at those words – whenever Anko wanted something from him, it usually meant trouble. Freezing as he was stepping out her apartment door, Nicholas grudgingly turned to face her. After a brief pause, he spoke.

"She….. didn't happen to say what she wanted me for, did she….?"

"No. She said that she had stopped by your house, but that you weren't there, and she couldn't find you in any of your usual places in town"- There had been good reason for that; Nicholas had taken to simply enjoying the forest near his house after meeting Might Guy, one of Kakashi's friends – "and at first she thought you were out on a job, but knew you weren't out on a job after checking in with a few people. Other than that, she just left me an address and asked me to say she'd meet you there when I saw you."

_Dammit. How the hell did she find out where I live?_

He had worked painstakingly hard to keep that information a secret from Anko, and now that she knew, that meant that it would only be a matter of time before Guy found out as well. Nicholas shuddered at the thought. Either way, there really wasn't any avoiding it at this point. Resigning himself to it, Nicholas held out his hand.

"Alright. You said she wrote down an address, do you still have it?"


	5. Chapter 4

Any feedback is appreciated- either send me a message here on , or to my email (). I'll be checking both for reference, this particular scene takes place a few days before Naruto learns the shadow clone jutsu in the canon story, but I intend to go well into the Shipuudden story, maybe even all the way to when it ends. Also, I'm not going to pull punches, no pun intended. The maturity level of the writing will be up there, along with FMA, Death Note, and other series of the like. You have been warned.  
P.S.- Any suggestions as to what to name the series would also be welcome, just send me a message with the Subject titled "Fanfic".

Chapter Four

July 11, 12 AK

Late Afternoon

Turning the page of his book, Nicholas had to admit that it was the little things in life that mattered. Lying down on his hardwood porch with his back propped up against one of the half foot thick square wooden posts holding the platform above the ground, Nicholas had decided to take one of his books outside to read, and despite the summer heat, he was extremely comfortable due to the shade provided by the forest surrounding his house. While he had been looking forward to the Chuunin Exam's final elimination phase, a tournament that anyone who could afford the tickets and make it through the stringent security checks could watch, it was still at least a month away. Nicholas, not realizing how long it would take, had applied for a vacation during at the start of the Exams, and while he had more than enough money stashed away in his accounts to last for several years of this lifestyle, he found that it was much more difficult to keep himself occupied than he had originally thought it would be after realizing his mistake.

_Maybe I should have asked Anko for some tips – she never seems to be bored. Then again, her ideas of fun and mine don't exactly match up._

Nicholas slumped a little at the memory. About a week and a half ago, Anko had tried to get a hold of him, even going as far as to actually find his house – a secret he tried to keep almost as hard as that of the shinigan. In the end, however, she had simply settled for leaving a note with an address with Naomi, knowing that Nicholas would show up there sooner or later. After receiving the address, Nicholas had been on his way to the spot where Anko was supposedly waiting for him, only to arrive at the street and see her fly from the roof of his destination and crash into the second story window of the building across the street, which as fate would have it, be the exact room where the written portion of the Chuunin Exam was being held at the time. Panicking, Nicholas had rushed into the building only to find that she had somehow gotten away with it since she had been chosen beforehand as the proctor for the field exam.

Nicholas slumped down even further, letting the book he had been reading fall open across his face. After all the trouble Anko had gone through to find him, Nicholas had thought that it had been something of life or death importance – and Anko, as always had not failed to disappoint. Somehow, word that he had apprenticed to a weapon smith when he was a child had leaked out, and after being passed from person to person, had become horribly distorted; while Nicholas could not remember the exact details, the final incarnation of the rumor had been something along the lines of him being a top weapon smith for a feudal lord, or some other such nonsense. And Anko, having heard the rumor and not bothering to ask Naomi or one of Nicholas's few friends, had simply gathered up every broken item she owned and had gone looking for him to fix them. Needless to say, after setting her straight he had gone to great lengths to squash the rumor, and it had finally died a day or two ago.

Sensing someone suddenly appear a few feet away from him, most likely by use of flash step, Nicholas pulled the book off of his face. While he didn't bother sitting up or turning his head, looked out of the corner of his eye to see who it was. Eyes widening slightly in surprise, Nicholas sat up and faced the ANBU agent that had materialized on the dirt path leading to his house. Dressed in the normal ANBU combat attire and sporting a mask with two horizontal red stripes and a bird-like "beak", the ANBU operative gave Nicholas a few seconds to close his book, place it on the porch and stand up before he spoke.

"Lord Hokage wishes to meet with you."

Eyeing the man for a few seconds, Nicholas wondered was going through the old man's head that would warrant sending an ANBU operative out here.

"I thought my request for leave had been approved. Why the sudden change?"

"I can't say anymore than I already have. Not here."

Nicholas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The ANBU were notorious for being quick, efficient, and above all, tenacious. Questioning the masked man would prove to be pointless, and Nicholas knew that the man would not leave unless Nicholas went with him; worst case scenario, things would get ugly.

"Alright, alright. Give me a second to clean up; I'll be back out in a moment." Nicholas said, reaching down to pick up the book from the porch. After walking back in and replacing it on his bookshelf, Nicholas came back outside, and he and the ANBU operative left with near synchronized flash steps.

A few minutes later, Nicholas stepped into the Hokage's office, and immediately sensed that something was off; he was the only person there apart from the Hokage himself. Not even the usual aides were present.

"Your man said you wanted to see me? I thought you had said I could take it easy until the Chuunin Exams were over."

Dressed in his customary red and white Kage robes, the Third looked up from several documents that were scattered across his desk.

"I apologize, but something has come to our attention. Have you ever heard of a man named Orochimaru? I'd imagine that that you have come across the name at least once before you accepted our contract."

"Orochimaru? Yeah, I've heard of him. He's actually tried to hire me a few times." Hearing this news, a shadow crossed the old man's face.

"And?"

"I turned him down, every time. While he only contacted me through intermediaries, I have never accepted any client without knowing who I was working for. When I was doing the usual background check, I started hearing some not so pleasant things, which was made all that much worse when I started thinking about the jobs he wanted me to do. Nasty stuff – kidnapping, assassination, you name it. Eventually I told his man that he should just forget about having me work for him." After a few seconds of thinking over Nicholas's reply, the Third's face returned to its usual demeanor.

"That's for the best, then. While I'm troubled that our background check on you didn't mention this, I'm glad that you chose not to work for him, and your being honest about it makes me feel much more at ease about asking this of you." While it was good to know he still had the man's trust (or at least as close as one could get to being trusted by Sarutobi), Nicholas didn't at all like the way that had sounded.

"So? What was it that you had wanted to see me about? If it has to do with dealing with Orochimaru, he's only a single man. Any ANBU squad or a few squads of jonin would be up to the task of hunting the man down, so why send for me?"

"In all honesty, the Elders didn't want me to get you involved at all. While they acknowledge your skill, they still feel that you aren't to be trusted with sensitive matters. However, this issue is serious enough that I don't believe that we can be overly selective in who we ask for aid." Moving the papers on his desk, the Third pulled out a folder and handed it to Nicholas over his desk. "I believe that you're already familiar with at least one of the people in there, possibly two."

Opening the folder, Nicholas saw that it contained three dossiers. The first one was Anko's, with the several redactions, one stretch of which covered almost two years. The second was Sasuke Uchiha's.

_Kakashi's student? How could he possibly be involved, he's only a genin._

The third was for the Orochimaru – Nicholas was taken aback for an instant. Thin and extremely pale, the man's eyes were not human, but rather the slit pupiled ones of a snake.

"His eyes. That isn't - "

"No, it's not. Thankfully he doesn't have a kekkei genkai, but we believe that to be his objective."

"Come again?"

"While she was getting the second phase of the Chuunin Exams under way, Anko Mitarashi believed that she had come across someone that she knew, and took it upon herself to verify whether or not she was correct. She entered the 44th Training Zone, and upon confronting the person, confirmed that it was Orochimaru."

"He let her go? Why would he do that? From what I've heard and read here, he doesn't seem like the kind of man prone to mercy or mistakes. Besides, how could he have gotten into the village in the first place? I thought all of the applicants to the Exams were screened." Nicholas said, frowning at the new information. No matter how he looked at it, he saw no benefit to leaving an enemy combatant alive and well enough to report your location.

"That's precisely what has me concerned, and why I've asked you to come here. While I cannot go into the exact details, we have cause to believe that Orochimaru's objective is the abduction of Sasuke Uchiha." The Third said, interlocking his fingers and leaning forward slightly. "And for some reason Orochimaru felt confident that our shinobi wouldn't be enough to stop him. You, however, were most likely not a factor in his plans. He has no reason to think that you are even in the village, and if you've worked as hard at keeping the shinigan a secret as you believe you have, then he most likely doesn't know about that either."

Nicholas nodded slowly – while he didn't know exactly what was in the other man's head, he was beginning to see which direction this conversation was going to go, and he didn't like it at all.

"So what do you want _me_ to do? Stand guard day and night over the entire village?"

The old man sitting behind the desk only smiled.

Kisame – 6' 5"


	6. Chapter 5

Any feedback is appreciated- either send me a message here on , or to my email (). I'll be checking both for reference, this particular scene takes place a few days before Naruto learns the shadow clone jutsu in the canon story, but I intend to go well into the Shipuudden story, maybe even all the way to when it ends. Also, I'm not going to pull punches, no pun intended. The maturity level of the writing will be up there, along with FMA, Death Note, and other series of the like. You have been warned.  
P.S.- Any suggestions as to what to name the series would also be welcome, just send me a message with the Subject titled "Fanfic".

Chapter Five

August 8, 13 AK

3:00 in the morning

_This sucks._

Sitting atop the highest water tower in the village with his eyes closed, his legs crossed in front of him and his arms resting on his knees, Nicholas pondered once again how he had gotten stuck with this job. When he had asked if Sarutobi wanted him to watch over the entire village during their meeting almost a month ago, he had only been joking. Sarutobi, however, had not. While Nicholas had momentarily considered turning him down, he was trapped, and they had both known it. The Third Hokage had given him far more concessions than he had needed to secure Nicholas's services, and as such Nicholas had been in the old man's debt – and the Third had finally decided to collect on it.

At first Nicholas had thought that it was going to be a solo job, but rather than having Nicholas work alone, the Third had simply integrated him into the ANBU that were already assigned to providing the heightened security. The plan had been to have Nicholas augment the nighttime security, since the darkness did not affect his shinigan – he saw just as well at night as he did during the day. Unfortunately, Nicholas's shinigan was _not_ the renowned byakugan. He did not see 360 degrees around himself, and while the shinigan did allow him to sense and accurately track any nearby sources of chakra, he could not see through walls, either. As such, he had been forced to find an alternative means of providing adequate coverage of Konoha.

Opening his eyes, thankful that he was far away from anyone who may have seen him, Nicholas looked over the village, and saw over a hundred sources of chakra identical to his own milling around Konoha, well hidden and virtually undetectable to anyone who may have been out for a midnight stroll. While the shadow clone jutsu had been the last technique he had learned, he could not deny its effectiveness in reconnaissance roles. The instant any of his clones detected anything out of the ordinary with their shinigan, they would cancel the jutsu, and the information would be directly relayed back to him, and from him to the ANBU operative waiting on the rooftop of the building next to him. In short, the instant something out of place was found, the whole ANBU force could be put on high alert within seconds.

Nicholas let out a long breath. While it had been a sound plan in theory, it only wouldn't prevent an attack – the only way Nicholas could have done that was to find the man who had the Third Hokage as worried as he was. While the Third had initially toyed with the idea of siccing Nicholas on Orochimaru, he had given up that plan after Nicholas pointed out that he had never actually met Orochimaru in person, and if he had met him, he hadn't known at the time. Without having had the opportunity to "memorize" Orochimaru's chakra, Nicholas was just as likely to find him as any of the several ANBU agents who had been searching for him the past few weeks, and still had yet to find even a trace of the man. Closing his eyes, Nicholas settled in for what was likely to be another five hours of nothing.

August 9, 13 AK

5:31 in the afternoon

While his nightly vigilance left him exhausted, he only slept about six hours a day – from seven in the morning, about an hour after the sun rose, to sometime around one in the afternoon. Walking from his home into town, Nicholas took a moment to look up to the fourth story of Naomi's apartment building as he was passing by, only to notice a glint from the rooftop of the building across the street. Frowning for a moment, Nicholas ducked into an alley and used a handful of flash steps to reach the roof of the four story building, using the small ledges at each level to gain enough of a foot hold for each step. Reaching the roof, Nicholas scanned the rooftops in front of him, and on the next building over saw the source of the reflected light. Squatting just behind the two foot tall wall meant to help keep people from falling was a large man with a wild mane of white hair, and in his hands was a small spyglass aimed directly at Naomi's apartment window. Immensely irritated at the man's "disregard" for her privacy, Nicholas held his anger in check as he looked the man over before allowing himself a small grin. The man was obviously a shinobi, that much was clear from his simple attire and more importantly his odd headband the large scroll on his back, and because of that one simple fact Nicholas was able to deal with the man his way. Moving as quickly as possible, Nicholas used a flash step to place himself behind the man without a sound, and with one swift movement drew Zanryu without removing the scabbard. Impossibly, the man in front of him somehow sensed something, and began to turn to face him.

_Too slow._

With a controlled strike, Nicholas brought Zanryu around. Before the man had managed to turn even halfway around, Zanryu struck the man low in the back of the head – unconsciousness was immediate. Moving to catch the man before he toppled over the edge of the roof, Nicholas smiled. Who said he never allowed himself to occasionally have some fun?

August 9, 13 AK

5:40 in the afternoon

Konoha hospital

Walking back from a patient's room to her station, a nurse saw Nicholas walk out of what she had thought was an empty room.

"I'm sorry sir, but visiting hours are over."

Stopping and turning to face her, Nicholas allowed himself a smile.

"Oh, I'm not here visiting. I ran across an old man in an alley on my way home, and since he didn't look too good, I decided I'd check him in. You should actually take a look; it looked like he had hit his head on something."

Eying Nicholas with slight suspicion, the nurse walked past him into the room, and was alarmed to find that there was indeed a man on the bed, only he was hogtied with what looked like medical tape. Not bothering to hide how flustered she was, the nurse rushed out into the hallway to confront Nicholas, only to find no one there.

August 11, 13 AK

4:02 in the afternoon

Sitting atop his usual perch, Nicholas yawned. After an entire month of inactivity, this was the last day he would have to keep watch. After turning in his report for the previous night, Sarutobi had decided that after today there would be no need for Nicholas to continue; they had both agreed that Orochimaru had intended to use the Chuunin Exams to his advantage by exploiting the weakened security, and if he was going to act at all, today was going to be his last chance. While Nicholas had kept quiet, inside he had been dismayed at the additional workload for the day. While it was well within his abilities and he had more than enough stamina, he had already gotten the ticket to watch the tournament. In the end, however, he had simply settled on creating an extra shadow clone and had it go to the stadium in his place. While he may not have had the luxury of watching the tournament in person, per se, he would at least have the memories of doing so. As it was, though, Nicholas didn't understand why the Third had him providing several dozen extra pairs of eyes, even if they had the shinigan, when he had mobilized every Chuunin and Jonin, as well as the ANBU corps. Just as Nicholas was beginning to slouch, one of his shadow clones canceled the jutsu. Eyes snapping open with the shinigan active, he looked to the northeast. While he couldn't see very well at this distance, he could sense it just fine. Looking over to the ANBU operative on the roof of the next building, Nicholas spoke.

"Hey, come here for a sec."

Looking over and cocking his head momentarily at Nicholas's informal request, the ANBU leapt over with something that was almost a flash step but not quite, and stopped moving once he was standing within a foot of Nicholas. Standing up, Nicholas pointed out the area.

"Concentrate out patrols over there. It's faint, but there are several people over there, and they're giving off quite a bit of chakra. I can't tell much more than that at this distance."

With a single curt nod, the masked man disappeared. Nicholas sat down again, crossing his legs, and looked over at the area he had just marked.

_Something's not right. The ANBU are very, very good at their jobs, and we've been patrolling inside and outside Konoha for almost a month now. No one should've been able to get that close, and if they could, then why aren't they already inside the village?_

Eyes widening, Nicholas stood up.

_The only reason they would stop there is because they _already_ have people on the inside. Not good – to hell with the consequences, the Third needs to know _now_._

Nicholas was already in the process of turning towards the arena when all hell broke loose.


	7. Chapter 6

Any feedback is appreciated- either send me a message here on , or to my email (). I'll be checking both for reference, this particular scene takes place a few days before Naruto learns the shadow clone jutsu in the canon story, but I intend to go well into the Shipuudden story, maybe even all the way to when it ends. Also, I'm not going to pull punches, no pun intended. The maturity level of the writing will be up there, along with FMA, Death Note, and other series of the like. You have been warned.  
P.S.- Any suggestions as to what to name the series would also be welcome, just send me a message with the Subject titled "Fanfic".

Chapter Six

August 11, 13 AK

4:11 in the afternoon

Just as Nicholas had turned towards the stadium where the Chuunin Exams final tournaments were being held, a massive shockwave nearly knocked him off of the top of the water tower. Whipping his head around in alarm, Nicholas's eyes widened, accentuating the blue glow of his already active shinigan. The area that he had just sent several ANBU squads to investigate had changed – the gigantic wall at the edge of the village now had a hole in it almost three hundred feet across, and in its place was an impossibly large, two headed snake.

_It has to be a Summoning jutsu, there's no other way something that massive could come out of nowhere. That explains _what_ they were doing, but it doesn't answer _who.

At that same moment Nicholas felt a very distinctive chakra appear, and turning to face it, swore as he saw a large, box shaped barrier appear over the Kages' box at the stadium as his shadow clones simultaneously began disappearing all over town.

_Damn. My shadow clones didn't cancel the jutsu, but they didn't see their attackers, either, which means that they were ambushed from behind._

Glancing behind him, Nicholas saw that his assessment was correct, and his eyes flashed when he saw who his attackers were. Coming at him from behind and above were five Suna shinobi, what appeared to be a mixture of Chuunin and jonin. Reacting without thought, Nicholas executed a deft flash step that placed him behind the group's rear guard as they were still falling, the enemy shinobi now shouting to each other in confusion at Nicholas's sudden disappearance.

_Gotta go for the neck – only thing I have capable of cutting through that armor is Zanryu, and I'm in trouble if I have to draw that already._

Grabbing the back of the collar of the distinctive Suna armor with his left arm, Nicholas planted both of his feet on the man's back as he reached into the enemy shinobi's own weapon pouch and drew a kunai with his right arm, all in a fraction of a second. Spinning the kunai around in a half circle so that he was holding it in a dagger position, Nicholas plunged it an inch deep into the base of the man's skull, severing the spinal cord. Locating his next target, Nicholas used the body as leverage, launching himself towards the next enemy shinobi and sliced the man's throat as his last victim crashed into the upper corner of the water tower.

_That makes two, just three left._

Landing on the rooftop, Nicholas used the bleeding man's body as a shield to block the various shuriken and kunai his allies had thrown towards Nicholas. Feeling the weapons impact against the dead man's body, Nicholas quickly threw the shuriken riddled corpse aside, and used another flash step to close the distance between himself and his three remaining enemies. Knowing that he only had a fraction of a second before they recovered from his sudden change in position, Nicholas gave up all pretense of going for clean kills. As his flash step placed Nicholas in front of the lead jonin who had drawn his own kunai in preparation, Nicholas grabbed the man's wrist and forced it and the weapon aside as he quickly stabbed the man twice in the neck, and quickly used another flash step upwards to dodge a second wave of projectiles. Expecting him to still be on the roof, the two remaining Suna soldiers began looking around themselves. Angling his descent, Nicholas landed on the shoulders of one of the remaining men, using his armor's shoulder pads for footholds as he grabbed the top of the jonin's head and slit his throat, but not before he managed to let out a panicked shout. Alerted to Nicholas's position, the last man attempted a desperate charge to try and stab Nicholas with a kunai. Jumping off of his last kill's shoulders before it hit the ground, Nicholas threw the blood stained kunai at his attacker, where it buried itself several inches deep in the man's throat. Landing in a crouch, Nicholas surveyed the carnage around him. Only 20 seconds had passed from the moment Nicholas had disappeared from the top of the water tower.

_Now I get it. Orochimaru _couldn't_ get the rest of his men in, so he used a group who had a legitimate reason for being here._

Looking away from the five bodies lying on the roof as he slowly stood, Nicholas was shocked at what he saw. There were already several fires burning, given away by the tell tale pillars of smoke rising from various positions around Konoha. Nicholas didn't bother looking towards the snake; he knew full well what something that size was capable of. Rather Nicholas turned to once again face the arena. Narrowing his eyes, Nicholas examined the large purple box visible at this distance where he faintly felt Sarutobi's chakra.

_No good; that's a barrier jutsu. If I even touch that I'll start burning. Can't get to Sarutobi, so I guess that means I go to plan "B"._

"Plan B" was the contingency plan that the Third had laid out for Nicholas at their last meeting earlier that day. However unlikely it may have been at the time, Sarutobi had felt it necessary to prepare for the case of a large scale attack, and looking around himself, Nicholas could not deny the wisdom that the old man had shown. Phase 1 was to intercept the attacking force before they could reach Konoha. Phase 2, which was to be implemented if Phase 1 had failed, was to evacuate all of the village's civilians to the shelters on the cliff face. Phase 3, to only be enacted once Phase 2 was complete, was a full scale counter attack. Walking to the edge of the roof, Nicholas jumped down, slowing his descent by channeling chakra into his palm and holding it to the building as he fell. Once Nicholas hit the ground he drew Zanryu. As much as he wanted to go and find Naomi to make sure she was safe, he had a job to do.

_Although I shouldn't need to worry about her at all if she's learned anything from our training sessions._

Breaking into a swift run with Zanryu held away from his right side, Nicholas grimly went to work.

4:13 in the afternoon

Other side of Konoha

Clad in the standard Konoha combat uniform, Naomi ran, her long jet black hair trailing behind her and her arms held loosely at her sides. She had been lucky to have been point guard; the attack had come from behind, and the only reason she had survived was because Matsuo, the jonin in command of her team and her former sensei, had managed to yell out a warning an instant before he had died. Naomi blinked away the tears from her dark grey eyes. Hiruku and Uwasawa, both people she had grown up with, had already been killed. Glancing over her shoulder for only a moment, Naomi confirmed that she was still being followed by a mixed group of nine Suna and [[[Sound]]] chuunin and jonin. Despite her initial rage, Naomi had realized that she was no match for such a large group on her own, not under these conditions; she had specialized in ninjutsu, not taijutsu. So she had fled, hoping to at least lead the group away from the evacuating civilians. While her initial plan had been wildly successful, she now needed a way out herself. As she began going over all of the techniques she knew, hoping to think of something that might allow her to escape, an idea occurred to her.

Quickly looking around to determine exactly where she was, Naomi grinned. She wasn't going to escape; she was going to wipe out the enemy group pursuing her. Making sure that they could still see her, Naomi quickly turned and ran into an alley, and as she had predicted, the enemy behind her followed. She was almost to the end of an alley when the final, tenth enemy, a Suna ninja, appeared with a kunai in his hand to try and slow her down so that the rest of his allies could catch up and finish her off. Eyes widening in alarm, Naomi did the last thing he could have expected; jumping up, Naomi planted her foot on his face and used it to springboard herself over him, the street behind him, and into her objective, one of the many water canals running through Konoha.

Already channeling chakra into the bottom of her feet to allow herself to stand on the surface of the water, Naomi spun around to face the group as soon as she made contact with the water's surface. Already making handsigns with blinding speed, Naomi lightly skipped backwards to buy herself a few precious seconds, her feet barely touching the water. Once the eleventh and final handsign was complete, Naomi stopped moving her hands and crouched, her long hair dipping into the water. The instant all ten of the enemy shinobi had crossed over the guardrail and into the canal, Naomi sprang her trap. With astonishingly fast movement, over fifteen tendrils of water, each on roughly a foot and a half thick, burst forth from the canal. Naomi smiled; originally based on Nicholas's Shattered Earth jutsu, it had been a simple matter for them to modify it for her to use as a Water Style technique, and due to her natural affinity for Water elemental chakra, Naomi was able to control it almost as well as that creepy Suna kid could use his sand.

Seeing the impressive display, the enemy jonin, apparently 4 of her pursuers, stopped in their tracks; the more inexperienced chuunin did not. The lead chuunin paused for a moment to throw a barrage of shuriken. Slightly altering her handsign, two of the tendrils of water shot down in between her and the shuriken and widened into spoon shapes, catching the shuriken and whisking them away in the current. Without pause, Naomi began changing her handsigns, directing the tendrils of water, which shot forward towards the ten enemies who were now forced onto the defensive. The chuunin who had charged forward were the first to go down, the water tendrils slamming into them with bone breaking force before being dragged underwater. The jonin, realizing that they would not be able to beat Naomi on her home field, began turning to flee, only to find their escape path blocked by yet more tendrils of water that had moved behind them to form a wall. Before they could react, Naomi caught and dragged down three more of them. The last one, somewhat quicker than the rest, managed to dodge the column of water, which missed by only five inches. Modifying her handsign once more, the column of water exploded before the last jonin could move away, throwing him away from the area and onto his back. Before he could recover, another column of water had forced him under the water's surface as well. Naomi held her hands steady for another two minutes, and once she was sure they had all drowned, released the jutsu. The water columns, no longer supported by Naomi's chakra, fell back into the canal, once more under gravity's influence. Wiping her face, Naomi stood up, and after a brief pause, began running back along the route she had taken there to aid in the evacuation efforts.

4:42 in the afternoon

Konoha residential district

Running through the street, Nicholas scanned empty houses with the shinigan. After finding numerous stragglers too scared to leave their homes and having to personally escort them to the shelters, Nicholas was extremely irritated. His appearance didn't help matters; he, along with his normally immaculate clothing, was soaked in blood that wasn't his from fighting off attacks on the evacuating civilians. His long hair, normally one of the very things that made him approachable, was similarly stained and matted down, giving him a dangerous, untamed appearance. While he wasn't tired in the slightest and hadn't needed to resort to using ninjutsu yet, the strain of having to constantly worry about protecting people who couldn't fight in what was essentially a warzone was wearing on him. Not only that, but the barrier was still in place over at the arena, and while Nicholas could still sense the Third's chakra, it had been getting weaker and weaker for several minutes now, and Nicholas was infuriated with his inability to do anything about it. Rounding a corner, Nicholas almost ran into the three [[[Sound]]] ninja who had also been checking around for straggling civilians. Shocked at Nicholas's appearance, they hesitated, giving him all the chance he needed. Slightly rotating Zanryu in his grip, Nicholas ducked under the enemy ninja's wild swing with a kunai, and in a movement too fast to see brought Zanryu from underneath with an upwards slice, instantly putting his opponent out of the fight. Quickly moving his feet, Nicholas spun around the falling man and decapitated the remaining two with a single cut. Pausing for only a moment, Nicholas Quickly flicked Zanryu once to try and rid it of some of the blood soaking the blade, and then continued moving.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

4:44 in the afternoon

Konoha residential district

After taking no more than twelve steps away from the three recently deceased Ota ninja, Nicholas jerked to an immediate stop and stood up straight. His eyes wide open with shock, Nicholas spun around to face the direction of the stadium.

_No. It's not possible._

And yet his shinigan did not lie, and no matter how hard he searched for it, Nicholas could no longer sense the Third Hokage's chakra. As much as he did not want to believe it, Hiruzen Sarutobi had died. Nicholas clenched his teeth, and hearing rapidly approaching footsteps, turned and faced the nine Ota ninja that had rounded the corner with an ANBU squad in hot pursuit, his shinigan now burning white with rage. His left arm, which was normally left free to help balance him during flash step, moved to take hold of Zanryu in a two handed grip. Changing his loose guard position so that Zanryu's tip was now facing the only targets he had in his sights, Nicholas charged.

August 12, 13 AK

6:34 in the morning

Forest clearing near Nicholas's house

Sweating heavily from the exertion and thoroughly soaked from the rain, Nicholas tried again. His loose clothes clinging to him, Nicholas held his right hand out in front of himself as he collecting Lightning style chakra in his palms. Managing to only make a few sparks jump forth, he gave up for the time being. Nicholas moved to a tree stump that was shielded from the downpour by the surrounding forest, and sat down with his head in his hands. After a few moments of silence, Nicholas suddenly punched a nearby tree, crushing the bark.

_It's my fault. I didn't catch it in time, and my mistake cost lives._

While the investigation had already cleared him and Naomi, Anko, and Kakashi all had told Nicholas that it wasn't his fault; he still believed that it had been in his power to have prevented at least the Third Hokage's death. Thinking back, Nicholas slammed his fist into the tree again.

_I've MET the Kazekage when I accepted jobs from Suna before. Why didn't I notice that that chakra wasn't his?_

Nicholas had been agonizing over the mistake after hearing from Kakashi himself that Orochimaru had impersonated the Kazekage to get himself close enough to the Hokage so that they would both be inside the barrier when it went up. While he had not actually been there in person and had been told that the area was secure enough, he had still sent a shadow clone to watch the tournament and had actually _looked_ up at the Kage's box to gauge Sarutobi's reaction to the Uzamaki kid's burst of chakra during his fight with the Hyuuga.

_What was the point of all of those years of training if I'm going to make mistakes like that?_

Rather than going to the top of the cliffs to watch the sun rise as he usually did that morning, Nicholas had started training from the moment he had woken in an attempt to try to bury his self inflicted guilt. Standing up again with the shinigan active this time, Nicholas began collecting chakra in his right hand again. Fueled by his emotion, a small Chidori sparked to life in his palm, and before it could fizzle out, Nicholas used a flash step to close the thirty feet between him and the dead tree in the center of the clearing. Slowing down enough so that he was once again visible with the naked eye after he was within two feet of the bark stripped trunk, Nicholas kept enough momentum that the tree shook when his hand slammed into it. Slowly taking his hand away from the tree, Nicholas scowled at the burn mark, the only visible evidence that he had even struck the tree.

While it wasn't the byakugan, Nicholas's shinigan was easily able to see the chakra that the Hyuuga boy had used to strike the internal organs, he would not be able to use the Gentle Fist technique himself since he could not see individual chakra points. Realizing that, Nicholas had settled on an alternative, and had decided to attempt combining the chakra strikes the Hyuuga boy had used with the chidori technique that Kakashi had taught the Uchiha. Which Nicholas had figured would be it would be simple enough since chidori was more or less the same technique, but modified to use Lightning style chakra, simple and easy were two completely different things. While his shadow clones were just as capable of using the shinigan as he was, it wasn't the sharingan, and no matter how hard he tried to remember, he could not recall the hand signs that the Uchiha boy had used. As such, Nicholas had instead tried to rely on the extreme aptitude he had for chakra control thanks to the shinigan, but had ended up with mixed results. While he had no problem initiating the technique, he could not keep an individual chidori going for more than a third of a second. Walking back to the tree stump, Nicholas let out a long breath and began collecting chakra in his palm for another attempt.

_While it may have been my fault that so many lives were lost, it WON'T happen again. Even if it costs me my life, I will not lose another person who matters to me, nor will I let a life I that is within my power to save be lost._

A full sized chidori blossoming in his palm, Nicholas once again dashed towards the withered husk in the middle of the clearing, only to have the lightning in his palm fade away again before he could reach the tree.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

August 26, 13 AK

7:31 in the afternoon

Forest clearing near Nicholas's house

Once again drenched in sweat, Nicholas sat down at the edge of the clearing and flopped backwards, eyes closed and breathing heavily as he lay in the shade.

_Dammit…. So close, yet so far away._

Over the past two weeks Nicholas had been training alone, attempting to reverse engineer Kakashi's chidori technique after his shadow clone had witnessed it during the final fight of the Chuunin Exams. During the first few days Naomi had stopped by frequently, knowing that he had blamed himself for not preventing the attack. After about a week she had stopped, confident that he was not wallowing in remorse. While Nicholas knew in his mind that he was trying to do the impossible without knowing the precise hand signs used to focus the chakra, he had still managed to figure out how to at least initiate the jutsu, if only through sheer perseverance. It still wasn't enough, though; while he could form the chidori, he wasn't able to maintain it for more than a second at a time.

_It's usable in combat, but even with the shinigan boosting my chakra reserves it still takes too much to get it going. At most I can use it about seventeen times before I run empty, and if I learn how to maintain it, the number of times I can use it is probably going to drop significantly._

The tradeoff would be more than worth it, though. If he tried to use his current version of the technique, it would be all or nothing once he initiated the jutsu, and it used up way too much chakra to risk missing. As it was, the jutsu he had developed so far was only useful as a finishing move. If he learned to maintain it, however, he would have a much larger window of opportunity for each strike, ensuring that the chakra he put into each use would not go wasted. Opening his eyes, Nicholas realized that he really was running on empty; his shinigan had deactivated on its own, something that had only happened twice before in his life. Looking up at the sky, colored pastel orange by the sunset, Nicholas simply lay there as he admired the view.

_I've been pushing myself too hard for the last few days. I'll take tomorrow off from my training. I should be fully recovered by tomorrow morning, but it'll still be nice to just sit back and relax._

After a few minutes, Nicholas forced himself to get up off of the ground and began walking home.

August 27, 13 AK

3:11 in the afternoon

Nicholas's house

Lying on his porch in his usual spot, Nicholas was once again on his back with a book covering his face. This time, however, he was fast asleep; while he had completely recovered from his training the day before, it was warm and humid, and combined with his comfortable position, Nicholas had fallen asleep within a matter of minutes.

Appearing as if by sleight of hand, a single ANBU agent once again started walking up the dirt path to Nicholas's house, careful not to trip on the masses of roots protruding from several spots on the trail. Sensing someone approaching, Nicholas woke up and removed the book from his face as he sat up. Now only three feet away from each other, the ANBU spoke.

"The Elders want to speak with you. It's urgent."

Nicholas, wide awake now, blankly stared at the man for several silent seconds.

"You're joking, right?"

Several more seconds of silence.

"Ah, hell."

1:18 in the afternoon

Elders' chambers

Leaning back on the large red couch with his arms folded, Nicholas eyed the two people in front him. Both of them were roughly the same age as the recently deceased Third Hokage, and while Nicholas didn't know them by name, he knew their faces. He also knew that they had been forced to step in and perform Sarutobi's job in his absence, and that they were among the people who had not trusted Nicholas until he had done far more than his contract had required defending against Orochimaru's attack just over two weeks ago. Nicholas, however, was not in the mood for games.

"Spit it out. You didn't call me here just to socialize. You want something from me, and it's something you don't think you can get from anyone else currently in the village."

"It appears that there's little point to dressing this up. We have a job for you."

Nicholas looked at the one who had spoken. The spectacled man leaned forward.

"There are two people that we want you to find. They were in Konoha earlier this morning, and left for Otafuku town about a half an hour ago. You should already be familiar with the organization they belong to."

Nicholas's face hardened.

"Which group? I've worked with and against several." Nicholas replied icily.

"The Akatsuki."

"Hell no."

Clearly surprised, the old man leaned back.

_The woman isn't talking. Interesting._

Recovering from his momentary loss of composure, the man began speaking again.

"If it's a matter of money, I'm sure that we can come to an arrangement that benefits both of us."

That did it; Nicholas wasn't going to play this game anymore.

"No, it's not a matter of money, and with Sarutobi it never was. Don't try and treat me like a fool, you people know full well why I accepted your contract in the first place. I came here to get away from the Akatsuki, and I have no intention of deliberately of going looking for them now that they've finally stopped looking." Nicholas said, his voice hard. "There are plenty of other shinobi in this village more than suited to taking them down. Send Kakashi or Guy in with some backup, and I can guarantee that they'll take your targets out within a few hours if they're that close."

"They've already fought with Kakashi Hatake, and he is in no shape to give chase." The woman said, speaking for the first time since the meeting had started. Nicholas's blood ran cold.

"….. What did you say?"

"They infiltrated the village earlier today, and when Kakashi confronted them they attacked. Kakashi is currently in a coma, induced by some form of genjutsu."

The Akatsuki never showed themselves without reason – they were here looking for someone.

"Who were they after?" Nicholas asked. The answer he got was the last one he could have expected.

"Naruto Uzamaki."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

August 27, 13 AK

2:01 in the afternoon.

About 3 miles outside of Tanzuku town

Running at full sprint, Nicholas narrowed his eyes. He could sense them now, even at this range. Before he had left Konoha, the Elders had given him every scrap of information that he had asked for, and based on that information, the five chakra sources he was detecting were most likely Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigake, Naruto Uzamaki, Jiraiya and Tsunade. He sensed a sixth, but it was only jonin level, nothing to worry about compared to the monster he sensed among the other five sources in town. The seventh one was only about a mile ahead of him, most likely Might Guy. As much as he had not wanted to work with the man, he had recognized the logic behind it; Might Guy was the fastest shinobi in Konoha, only second to Nicholas when he was using the shinigan. Trailing almost another two miles behind Nicholas despite leaving Konoha at the same time was even more backup, an entire ANBU squad. After running for a few more minutes, the positions of the chakra sources changed almost the instant Guy entered the town's borders. One of the sources of chakra nearly disappeared, and began moving out of the town, the big one right on top of it.

_Those have to be the Akatsuki, they're moving way too fast to be anyone else. Only reason that they'd retreat, though, is if they got into a fight that they realized they couldn't win. Best guess, one of them was forced to use up the last of his chakra with some jutsu, and both of them decided to cut their losses and run._

Nicholas grinned. It had been a suicide mission to try and stop them alone, which was why he had been sent out with Guy. Now that one of them couldn't fight, though, the odds were suddenly in Nicholas's favor. Another one of the shinigan's nifty little side effects, apart from giving his chakra reserves a huge boost, was that it fortified his entire body with chakra. While most shinobi could do this to some extent to make themselves faster and stronger, the shinigan took it to a whole other level, making Nicholas virtually unbeatable in endurance fights. Changing his course to intercept the fleeing Akatsuki, Nicholas put on a burst of speed.

Ten minutes later Nicholas caught sight of them. The first thing to catch his eye were their blavk cloaks.

_No doubt about it. They're definitely Akatsuki._

Somehow sensing that they were being followed, they came to a stop at a small lake, the shorter one standing on the shoreline and the larger one not even bothering, instead simply standing on the water's surface. Not really seeing any point to hiding since they apparently knew he was there anyways, Nicholas also stopped out in the open, standing on the water about fifteen feet away from the big one, with the opposite shoreline almost seventy feet behind him. Standing up to his full height, Nicholas didn't bother hiding the shinigan, either; it was far too dangerous to even think about turning it off.

The big one, a few inches taller than Nicholas was, grinned. Nicholas did not like what he was seeing with the shinigan. With blue grey skin and a mouth full of inhumanly sharp teeth, Kisame Hoshigake was the gigantic chakra source Nicholas had sensed; up close Nicholas could see that the man had slightly more chakra than Nicholas did, even with the shinigan. On his back was what appeared to be a large two handed sword covered in bandages. Shifting his focus but never quite taking his gaze off of Kisame, Nicholas looked past the swordsman.

_I was right. The other one barely has any chakra left. I'd bet he'd only be able to stand out here with us for only a minute or so before he went empty and fell through. As long as I keep the fight out here I shouldn't have any problems._

"Hey, Itachi, get a load of this guy's eyes. Isn't this the guy who cut Hidan up a couple years back?"

_Hidan?_

The smaller one, almost entirely obscured by his cloak, took a few seconds before answering.

"He matches the description. It doesn't matter, we need to keep moving." Itachi said. Shifting slightly, Itachi spoke again, but this time to Nicholas, not Kisame. "We have no business with you. Don't try to follow us, we will stop you with force if need be."

Nicholas didn't move. After a few seconds Itachi spoke again.

"Kisame, get rid of him, but do it quickly. If we stay too long we'll be found."

"With pleasure." Still grinning, Kisame's right hand shot back over his shoulder and took hold of his sword's hilt as he simultaneously _launched_ himself at Nicholas.

Nicholas would have never moved fast enough if he had shut off the shinigan, and even then he almost didn't make it. Moving impossibly fast, almost as fast as Guy, Kisame almost instantly closed the distance between them. Realizing he wouldn't have time to properly draw Zanryu and block, Nicholas improvised. Grabbing Zanryu's hilt with his left hand rather than his right, Nicholas partially drew the katana with a dagger hold, keeping six inches of the blade anchored in the scabbard, just as Kisame's sword, still covered in the bandages, slammed into his left side. While Nicholas had successfully blocked the cut with his half drawn sword, he hadn't stopped it; the momentum carried through, actually lifting Nicholas off of the water and throwing him aside.

_What the hell?_

Recovering in a fraction of a second, Nicholas had just managed to completely draw Zanryu and switch to a right handed grip before the next attack came, this time from below. Nicholas swore, whipping Zanryu around so that it was parallel to the ground, blade facing down and pointing towards his left side. Quickly forming his left hand into a half fist, Nicholas pressed his left palm against the back of the blade in an attempt to reinforce his block, but to no avail. The big man's sword began an upwards arc, briefly lifting Nicholas off of the ground as it came into contact with Zanryu before forcing it back against Nicholas. Ripping through his uwagi, the weapon's tip gouged a half inch deep furrow beginning at Nicholas's lower right abdomen and making it all the way to his lower left pectoral before Nicholas planted his right foot against the side of the massive weapon and using a flash step to propel himself backwards, landing a good twenty feet away from Kisame. Trying to buy himself some time before the next attack came, Nicholas used a trick he had learned years ago; instead of simply channeling chakra into the bottom of his feet, he created a current going from heel to toe. When he landed, Nicholas didn't stop moving; rather he shot backwards, skidding across the water's surface. Looking up, to his dismay Nicholas saw that Kisame had quickly placed his sword back on his back and had begun making hand signs.

_Not good. I need to get onto dry land, _fast_._

Nicholas weighed his options in less than a fraction of a second. Nicholas didn't even consider going forward; even if he made it past Kisame he would still have to deal with the man's partner. That only left one option. Glancing behind him, Nicholas saw that he was still a good fifty feet away from the shore. With his hand signs now complete, Kisame's grin grew even wider as a large drill shaped column of water shot towards Nicholas. Already moving to dodge the attack, Nicholas used another flash step to move backwards, placing him less than twenty five feet away from the shore. Another column of water shot towards him, and with one final flash step Nicholas set his feet on dry land.

_Great, I made it. Shattered Earth's way to slow, though, so that means Stone Prison._

With blinding speed, Nicholas stabbed Zanryu into the ground in front of him and made nine hand signs in 3 seconds, just as another water column started coming at him. Upon finishing with the final hand sign, the ground around him shifted forming a large half dome in front of Nicholas just in time to block the water jutsu. Hearing the small splashes of fast approaching footsteps, Nicholas's mind went into overdrive.

_This isn't good; my specialty is taijutsu, and that isn't going to do me an ounce of good here. He's physically stronger than me, and has ridiculous reach with that cudgel of his. An endurance match isn't going to work either; he has even more chakra than I do. The only advantage I have is speed, and that's not going to help unless I have enough punch behind each attack._

Nicholas's eyes flashed. Yes, he did have a technique that fit that description – the problem, however, was that he'd be completely out of chakra once he did use it. It might not even put Kisame out of the fight, and it would leave him too exhausted to fight both Kisame and Itachi at the same time. Even if they were on a level playing field, they still outnumbered him two to one.

_Wait, I didn't exactly come alone. Where are they…. Got 'em!_

The ANBU team, rather than going ahead to Tanzuku town, had followed Nicholas's trail instead and would be arriving at any moment.

_Still, even they aren't a match for this monster, which means I have to finish this quickly. It's risky, but I'm running out of options fast and don't see a better alternative._

Just before Kisame's footsteps reached the stone barrier, Nicholas made a single hand sign.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

August 27, 13 AK

2:21 in the afternoon

Forest about a mile and a half west of Tanzaku town

Blood dripping from the large gash on his abdomen and lower chest, Nicholas crouched behind the stone barrier. Hearing the small splashes of fast approaching footsteps, Nicholas's mind went into overdrive.

_This isn't good; my specialty is taijutsu, and that isn't going to do me an ounce of good here. He's physically stronger than me, and has ridiculous reach with that cudgel of his. An endurance match isn't going to work either; he has even more chakra than I do. The only advantage I have is speed, and that's not going to help unless I have enough punch behind each attack._

Nicholas's eyes flashed. Yes, he did have a technique that fit that description – the problem, however, was that he'd be completely out of chakra once he did use it. It might not even put Kisame out of the fight, and it would leave him too exhausted to fight both Kisame and Itachi at the same time. Even if they were on a level playing field, they still outnumbered him two to one.

_Wait, I didn't exactly come alone. Where are they…. Got 'em!_

The ANBU team, rather than going ahead to Tanzuku town, had followed Nicholas's trail instead and would be arriving at any moment.

_Still, even they aren't a match for this monster, which means I have to finish this quickly. It's risky, but I'm running out of options fast and don't see a better alternative._

Just before Kisame's footsteps reached the stone barrier, Nicholas made a single hand sign.

Running towards the ten foot high half dome of stone, Kisame pulled his sword off of his back and swung downwards from above using both hands. The first strike cracked the barrier, and after quickly drawing back, Kisame broke it with a second strike. Crouching behind it, Nicholas reacted instantly, pulling Zanryu from the ground and bringing over his head, horizontal to the ground and with his left hand once again supporting his block. Bringing his weapon down, Kisame only used one hand; the force of the blow pushed Nicholas to his knees. Grunting from the exertion, Nicholas held his ground as Kisame's sword inched downwards towards Nicholas's head.

"I have to hand it to you, I haven't had this much fun in a while!" Kisame said, still grinning. "Too bad it had to end so soon."

Still struggling to keep his sword held in a block, Nicholas grunted out a reply.

"Who said it was over, fish face?"

Kisame's smile disappeared at the name.

"You seem to be forgetting a key detail. I was out of your line of sight for an entire five seconds."

An instant later the shadow clone disappeared as Kisame's weapon touched its head, Zanryu clattering to the ground. Hearing footsteps, Kisame quickly turned around to see Nicholas running at him with a kunai drawn from almost twenty feet away. Placing his sword back on his back, Kisame turned to face Nicholas and began weaving together hand signs at a dizzying rate.

_There!_

Disappearing in a puff of white smoke, the shadow clone charging Kisame canceled the jutsu as Nicholas used a flash step, moving out of the tree line and stopping within a foot of Kisame. A look of shock on his face, Kisame's hand shot towards the hilt of the weapon still on his back.

_Oh no, you don't._

His shinigan blazing, Nicholas brought his right hand up and grabbed Kisame's right forearm, and forcing chakra into his right hand, put an inch and a half wide hole through Kisame's forearm with a small chidori.

_There, that ought to even things a bit. Now for the other arm._

Using another flash step, Nicholas moved behind Kisame. The big man, expecting the tactic, tried to move away, but with mixed results. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to grab the arm in time, Nicholas shifted his aim, and with split second timing, put another hole in Kisame, this time in the man's shoulder.

_That's two. Based on how much chakra I have left, I probably have about thirteen bursts left; more than enough._

Using yet another flash step, Nicholas moved inside of Kisame's guard, and put three more bursts of chakra into him, puncturing the man's left lung in two places and grazing his diaphragm before Kisame moved away. Keeping up the pressure, Nicholas proceeded with five more jabs, two of which Kisame deliberately took in his right arm, the remaining three hitting him in the gut. With one final hit left, Nicholas went for Kisame's head. Fate has a funny way of ruining even the best laid of plans, however. Half a second after Nicholas activated the chidori, the technique ate up the last drops of his chakra. No longer able to sustain the shinigan, Nicholas's attack missed, only grazing Kisame's left temple as he dodged the suddenly slow strike. Noticing that Nicholas's pupils were no longer glowing, Kisame's grin returned. Before Nicholas could react, Kisame kneed him in the solar plexus, driving right into the middle of the bleeding gash. Gasping from the pain, Nicholas stumbled back, his vision going blurry.

_Damn it all. How is he still able to keep going, let alone keep moving? He's in worse shape than I'm in._

Forcing himself to take a step forward, Nicholas almost fell over from dizziness.

_I've lost too much blood, and I don't even have enough chakra left to use the shinigan. I am going to die here if I don't come up with something. Think!_

It was no use – Nicholas had reached his limit. Leaning back, Kisame aimed a high kick which caught Nicholas in the side of the head, cutting him in the temple and knocking him to the ground. Lying on his right side, unable to move, Nicholas could only watch as Kisame slowly walked towards him. Just as Kisame raised his foot to stomp down on Nicholas's leg, he looked towards the forest, a scowl appearing on his face. With one last glance at Nicholas, he turned and ran towards the opposite shore where his partner was waiting. Darkness eating away at the edges of his vision, the last thing he saw before blacking out was the world tinged in red as the blood from the cut on the side of his head began dripping into his eye.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

September 12, 13 AK

9:04 in the morning

Konoha Hospital

"…. A bit of good news. Anyway, the guy in bed three's fever just broke last night. Truth be told, we weren't sure if he was going to make it the first few days."

Hearing the muffled voices, Nicholas slowly worked his way to consciousness.

_Who is that talking? I don't recognize his voice….._

Fighting to remember where and when he was, Nicholas his fight with Kisame suddenly flashed through his head. Wide awake with the memory, Nicholas bolted upright, only to clench his teeth, double over and clutch his side as he felt a searing pain in his abdomen and on his arms. Hearing the commotion, a doctor looked into the room, and seeing Nicholas awake, rushed in and pushed him back into the hospital bed.

"Easy now. You just barely pulled through as it is, don't try and push it."

Settling into the bed but not quite relaxing, Nicholas looked around the room; only when he noticed the Konoha emblem carved into one of the walls did he loosen his muscles. Thinking back again on the fight, Nicholas realized what happened.

_I remember now… Kisame ran before finishing me off. The ANBU team must've caught up, and without his sword or jutsu available, he ran. I got lucky again._

Feeling his arms itch, Nicholas looked down and frowned at what he saw.

_What the hell? I don't remember injuring my arms…._

Following his gaze and reading the expression on Nicholas's face, the doctor spoke.

"Luckily, none of your injuries were debilitating. You should still take it easy, though, at least until that cut on your abdomen heals. I've never seen a wound quite like it before – needless to say, there will be scarring, but I'm guessing that won't be new to you."

Nicholas nodded and then spoke.

"For the life of me I can't figure out how my arms got injured badly enough to need bandaging. Would you mind reading off the chart for me? Also, what day is it? How long have I been out for?"

Walking to the end of Nicholas's bed, the doctor picked up Nicholas's chart and began reading it aloud. As he read, Nicholas mentally compiled a list of the injuries he had come in with.

_Unresponsive - A single large laceration on the abdomen, a large cut on his head, two cracked ribs, second degree burns to both hands and a massive loss of blood. Hell, I was half dead when they got me here._

As for the burns, Nicholas could imagine full well what had caused those, and suddenly figured out why his opponent hadn't gone down, and the irony was not lost on him.

_Every time I put a hole in him, the chidori cauterized the surrounding flesh, keeping him from bleeding out. Damn it, I should have gone for his vital spots first and then kept my distance instead of just taking away his sword and jutsu._

The last thing that caught his attention was the date. He had been unconscious for over two weeks, an unprecedented amount of time for him.

"Any estimate for how much longer I'll be here?"

"At least for another week; you injuries will take months to heal."

_Not with the shinigan flooding my body with chakra, it won't._

Nicholas, however, didn't say anything. After talking with him for a few more minutes the doctor left. Closing his eyes and activating the shinigan, Nicholas lay still.

_It's going to be unbelievably boring, but I should be out of here in a third of the time._

September 14, 13 AK

7:31 in the evening

Konoha Hospital

Only two days had passed, and the staff had been amazed at his rate of recovery. It went without saying, though, that Nicholas kept the reason a secret from them. And despite what he had originally expected, he wasn't bored in the least. Once she had heard that he had woken up, Naomi had begun coming twice a day, once in the morning and once again at midday. Gossip was also rampant throughout the hospital, and by listening carefully, Nicholas had learned of the events that had transpired only days before he had woken up. Initially believing them so outlandish to be true, Nicholas had been forced to admit the validity of what he had heard when the Uzumaki kid had burst into his room the day before during what was apparently one of the boy's frequent bids to escape the hospital despite his injuries before being found and dragged back to wherever he had come from. Hearing footsteps approaching his room, Nicholas responded the same way he did whenever the doctors came to check on him; he pretended to be asleep. Eyes closed, Nicholas heard the footsteps stop next to his bed.

"I know you're awake." Opening his eyes at the familiar voice, Nicholas looked over and saw Kakashi standing next to the bed, hands in his pockets.

"Sorry about that. They keep checking on me every half an hour or so, and after a while I just got tired of it."

"How are you holding up? I hear that you're recovering remarkably fast for someone in your condition." Kakashi said, his voice dry.

"Yeah, I haven't told them about that, and I honestly think it better if they didn't know."

"I've been meaning to ask you something ever since I read the mission report about a week ago."

"Go ahead."

"How long have you been working on it?"

Nicholas froze for a moment, then sighed.

"I'm guessing that they saw it, then." Nicholas said, referring to the ANBU squad that had rescued him.

"Yes, they did. I thought you of all people would know better than to try and use an incomplete technique against an opponent like that." There was a slight bite to Kakashi's words, and he was eyeing Nicholas with disapproval.

"I didn't have much choice. If I hadn't done that we all would have died; that guy had even more chakra than I do while using the shinigan, and he had the experience and techniques to back it up."

"I'll ask again. How far have you gotten with it?"

Nicholas was silent, blankly staring at the empty space in front of him for several seconds before answering.

"I've got the shape and element manipulation down, and I can manage between sixteen to eighteen bursts a day if I haven't expended any chakra before using it. Without the hand signs to help me focus the chakra, though, I can only maintain it for slightly more than a second before it dies out on its own." Nicholas said looking over at Kakashi, whose exposed eye was slightly wider than usual. "What? Something wrong?"

"I don't know. I'm astonished that you've managed to get that far on your own. It took me years to develop that jutsu."

Silent for another few moments, Nicholas grudgingly spoke.

"I don't suppose you'd help me figure out what I'm doing wrong, or at least show me the hand signs when I get out of here in a few days?"

Kakashi was silent, and simply continued to stare at Nicholas.

"No? How about a trade, then; I'll let you copy my Stone Prison jutsu, and in exchange you teach me how to finish chidori. I've already figured most of it out, so it shouldn't be that much of a loss."

Kakashi was impassive for several seconds as he thought it over.

"Deal. Take your time and recover once you get out, though. I won't help you until you can at least take me on in a sparring match; it'd be pointless trying to teach you while you're still injured."


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

November 3, 13 AK

12:02 in the afternoon

Deep forest, about 4 miles away from Nicholas's house

Sitting on a stump, Nicholas once again looked up at the sun to gauge how much time had passed since he had arrived at the meeting spot. Nicholas had been released from the hospital ahead of schedule, only two days after his and Kakashi's conversation almost two months ago. The first week and a half had been nothing except rest, and Nicholas had not left his house the entire time, allowing him to keep his shinigan active at all times to help speed up his recovery. Despite losing sleep from the annual torture sessions his own mind inflicted on him at night, injuries that would have normally taken months to heal were gone before the second week had ended, although he still had an inch and a half wide scar running from his lower right abdomen up to just below his left chest thanks to Kisame's cut. Nicholas couldn't have cared less; it didn't impede his movement, and the torn muscles had thankfully healed, returning to their state before the fight.

The instant his injuries had healed, Nicholas had not wasted a moment getting back up to speed. For five weeks afterward Nicholas had pushed his training to levels he had never dared to go in the past, and it had paid off. While he knew he still had a long way to go before he could even begin to match Fishface's raw strength, he was even faster than he had been before. Nicholas had finally challenged Kakashi to a match the day before, and he had done more than manage to hold his own; he had beaten Kakashi, with far less effort than it had ever taken before. Keeping his end of the deal, Kakashi had agreed to help Nicholas fine tune the chidori after watching Nicholas perform the Stone Prison jutsu after their match. Using the area three miles south of Nicholas's usual training spot as the meeting point, they had agreed to meet at 11:00 in the morning. Looking up at the sun again, Nicholas hung his head in exasperation.

_Truth be told, I should have expected this. How many times have I seen him leave his old team waiting for hours at a time before he decided to show up?_

A few minutes later, Kakashi finally walked into the clearing, and he didn't waste a second once he arrived.

"Alright, show me what you've managed to accomplish so far. Try and maintain the jutsu for as long as you can."

Nicholas stood up and walked to a twenty foot wide clearing. Holding his arm at a forty five degree angle relative to the ground with his hand low, Nicholas activated the shinigan and began collecting Lightning chakra in his palm. As usual, a chidori blossomed in his hand only to die after about a second and a half. Kakashi nodded, his arms folded in front of him.

"Impressive. As far as I can tell you're right about the hand signs. Given more time, I have no doubt that you'd manage to extend the time each chidori lasts with enough practice, but that'll take too long. Watch my hands, but keep some distance. Don't turn off your shinigan."

Walking over, Nicholas stopped eight feet away from Kakashi, intently watching the other man's hands move, memorizing every detail.

_Saru, Tatsu, Ne, Tori, Ushi, Mi, Inu, Tora, Saru, U, Saru….._

At the end of the sequence Kakashi quickly moved his left hand out of the way, grabbing his right wrist and keeping that hand pointed away from his body towards the ground. A chidori, slightly larger than Nicholas's, formed, and he saw why Kakashi had told him to keep his distance. Like the Uchiha kid's, Kakashi's chidori was creating a foot and a half wide crater in the ground underneath it, despite being more than two feet away. Letting the hand held lightning fizzle out, Kakashi stood straight.

"Before you try, tell me the hand signs you saw."

Nicholas replied immediately, effortlessly recalling the sequence.

"Saru, Tatsu, Ne, Tori, Ushi, Mi, Inu, Tora, Saru, U, Saru."

Pointing to where Nicholas had been standing during his first attempt, Kakashi spoke.

"Now you try it. If anything other than what I showed you happens, cancel the jutsu immediately."

Walking over to the center of the clearing, Nicholas went through the hand signs, and held his arms the way Kakashi had. A full sized chidori burst to life in Nicholas's palm. Something was wrong, though; despite Nicholas's steady chakra flow, the chidori began to grow, and the crater beneath it doubled in size. Following Kakashi's instructions, Nicholas canceled the jutsu, but not before his hands had begun to sting. His eyebrow creased in puzzlement, Kakashi walked over.

"What happened? You used the right hand signs; there shouldn't have been a problem."

"I don't know. I didn't change the amount of chakra that I usually put into it."

"Well, try again. We have more than enough time."

No matter how much he decreased the amount of chakra put into each use, however, Nicholas could not produce a stable chidori. After an hour and ten more tries, Nicholas ran out of chakra. Calling it a day, the two men agreed to meet there again at the same time tomorrow.

November 16, 13 AK

12:43 in the afternoon

Training clearing

"Damn it. No matter how much I modify it, it won't last more than two seconds without trying to burn off my arm."

Nicholas had about lost it. While he was normally an extremely patient man, pushing himself to the breaking point for almost two weeks with negligible results had used up the last bit of patience he had. Kakashi, deep in thought on the edge of the clearing, had an epiphany.

"I think we can both agree that this isn't working, so let's try something different." Kakashi said, adjusting his headband to expose his sharingan. "Try it one more time."

"I thought you said 'different'."

"Just bear with me."

Sighing, Nicholas went through the hand signs once again. As before, a chidori appeared in Nicholas's palm and began expanding after about three seconds; Nicholas canceled the jutsu before the chidori could burn him.

"Same result as every other time."

"Once more, but without the shinigan."

Puzzled, Nicholas did as Kakashi instructed, and to his surprise the next chidori remained stable; Nicholas kept it going for more than a minute before canceling it himself. Nicholas turned to face Kakashi.

"So what gives? You obviously thought of something, we never tried that before. It doesn't really change anything, either; if I tried using a chidori without the shinigan in a fight I'd be leaving myself wide open to an attack."

"Your shinigan is actually the root of the problem."

"I got that from our little experiment. What I don't understand is _why_."

"Have you ever seen a light bulb burn itself out during a power surge?"

Nicholas blinked.

"Of course I have. I don't get how that relates to our current problem, though. Even if I put as little chakra as possible into the technique, it still doesn't remain stable for more than two or three seconds."

"That's because you _are_ feeding chakra into it, even if you don't realize it. Isn't one of your kekkei genkai's little side effects that it fortifies your entire body with chakra?"

Nicholas was beginning to understand, and he was not at all happy with the prospect. If Kakashi's theory was correct, then the last several months had been a complete waste. Simply put, while chidori was an impressive technique, it did not rely on shape manipulation nearly as much as raw elemental manipulation, and as such was not well suited to handling the excess chakra. If he initiated the jutsu with the shinigan active, it would begin absorbing the latent chakra in his body, and would expand due to the lack of shape manipulation used in the technique. As far as Nicholas knew, that would require modifying chidori into a completely new jutsu.

"So I just wasted the last few months of my life working on a technique that I apparently can't even use in a fight, and that means modifying it into a completely new jutsu. Friggin' brilliant."

Kakashi stood still for several moments while Nicholas, fuming, paced across the clearing.

"….. I do have another technique that I based off of chidori. I'm not sure if it'll solve your problem, but I think it's at least worth a try."

Nicholas stopped pacing.

"What?"

"Come over here and watch my hands."

Nicholas walked over, and activated the shinigan, making sure to keep a safe distance. Watching Kakashi's hands, Nicholas memorized the new sequence.

_Ushi, U, Saru._

Moving his arms into the same position as last time, lightning again formed in Kakashi's hand. This technique, however, was slightly different. While it had a similar appearance to chidori, it had a much deeper blue tint, and was much smaller with a more defined shape. Extinguishing it, Kakashi motioned to the clearing again.

"Same as before. Rather than focusing chakra into it, though, focus on keeping it the same size."

Moving to the middle of the clearing one last time, Nicholas made the three hand signs. Holding his right hand away from him and expecting the worst, Nicholas fed chakra into his palm. Lightning once again burst forth from his hand and began to expand again, but at a much slower rate this time. Canceling the jutsu before it could backfire, Nicholas looked over at Kakashi.

"What was that? It's like chidori, but at the same time it's different."

"It's called raikiri. I developed it from the chidori years ago. While it's much more powerful, it doesn't use any more chakra than the original technique did; instead it takes the same amount of chakra and compresses it into a smaller space."

Nicholas understood perfectly, and grinned. It was the perfect solution to his problem; as long as he focused on the shape manipulation, the jutsu would theoretically sustain itself by using the very chakra source that had made chidori unusable. After five more days of training with the new technique, Nicholas managed to produce a stable raikiri, even if it was somewhat larger than Kakashi's. A week after that they looked identical.

End of Part 1


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